A Minimally-biased Philosophy of Life: Biology

Most of biology is experimental, so its results are only as trustworthy as the quality of the experiment, multiplied by the quality of the transmission medium. Unfortunately, most scientific study of human beings has been regulated by society, and profitable discoveries are always better publicized (and ultimately better funded) than unprofitable ones. That this dynamic exists is self-evident, but because of it we can be certain that some kinds of un-profitable truth may be waiting for us just below the surface. Historically, biology has been based on experiment, and experiment has been based on funding.

The most obvious exception to deviate from this rule is the theory of natural selection. Natural selection was discovered by observation, and confirmed by observation, but like most great laws it describes a mathematical principle so inevitable it ought to apply to any possible life-form on any planet in the Universe. The mathematical structure of evolution--exponential amplification within a finite space--not only explained the structure and evolution of species on earth, but also prefigured the equations of chaos theory ("nonlinear dynamics") by a hundred years. That is the sort of universal theoretical biology to which the viewpoint here aspires.